brian burns Posted 23 November , 2018 Share Posted 23 November , 2018 Hello new to the forum . Ive been asked by a friend to find the whereabouts of William Anderson , seaforth Highlanders He enlisted and never came home from ww1 , my friends grandmother has three medals and engraved is his service number 14488 ive searched commonwealth war graves and the scottish roll of honour to no avail theres loads of the same name but when you type in the service number it always comes up no records hoping anyone can help sincerely brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil 2242 Posted 23 November , 2018 Share Posted 23 November , 2018 As you say, many of the same name. So anything else you can tell us may help to pin him down. Date of birth, place of birth, marriage, census entries, familymembers etc........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 23 November , 2018 Share Posted 23 November , 2018 Medal index card shows he was #14488 Seaforths and #111416 Labour Corps. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 23 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2018 3 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said: Medal index card shows he was #14488 Seaforths and #111416 Labour Corps. Craig I noted that Craig thank you 10 minutes ago, Neil 2242 said: As you say, many of the same name. So anything else you can tell us may help to pin him down. Date of birth, place of birth, marriage, census entries, familymembers etc........... will ask , thanks Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 23 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2018 28 minutes ago, brian burns said: Hello new to the forum . Ive been asked by a friend to find the whereabouts of William Anderson , seaforth Highlanders He enlisted and never came home from ww1 , my friends grandmother has three medals and engraved is his service number 14488 ive searched commonwealth war graves and the scottish roll of honour to no avail theres loads of the same name but when you type in the service number it always comes up no records hoping anyone can help sincerely brian Can i also say that when searching his service number i noticed it was allocated to a solder in the Grenadier guards l/cpl B R Clements Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 23 November , 2018 Share Posted 23 November , 2018 32 minutes ago, brian burns said: Can i also say that when searching his service number i noticed it was allocated to a solder in the Grenadier guards l/cpl B R Clements Service numbers weren't generally unique, there would be a quite a few men with the same number. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 23 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2018 Really surprised at this , i would have thought the service number would be unique for id purposes thank you Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 23 November , 2018 Share Posted 23 November , 2018 Hi, There's a bit about it on the Long, Long Trail - link Regards Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 24 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2018 18 hours ago, ss002d6252 said: Medal index card shows he was #14488 Seaforths and #111416 Labour Corps. Craig Thanks for this Craig , went on to find this , it shows he was discharged before he enlisted but proves two service numbers WO-372-1-87827.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 24 November , 2018 Share Posted 24 November , 2018 2 minutes ago, brian burns said: Thanks for this Craig , went on to find this , it shows he was discharged before he enlisted but proves two service numbers WO-372-1-87827.pdf Be aware that not all those cards are for the same man - the only one that is for your man is the one with the two numbers. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 24 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2018 14 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said: Be aware that not all those cards are for the same man - the only one that is for your man is the one with the two numbers. Craig Thanks Craig for that ....If he isnt listed in the commonwealth war graves how can i find a grave ? thanks brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 24 November , 2018 Share Posted 24 November , 2018 2 minutes ago, brian burns said: Thanks Craig for that ....If he isnt listed in the commonwealth war graves how can i find a grave ? thanks brian If he died in service it's unlikely he was missed off the CWGC, there's nothing on the card itself to suggest he died nor is there an entry in SDGW or the effects records under those numbers that I can find - as we have seen on this site many times a man not coming home from the war did not always means he was dead, a surprisingly large number of men used the time to just disappear and not return to their pre-war life. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 25 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2018 22 hours ago, ss002d6252 said: If he died in service it's unlikely he was missed off the CWGC, there's nothing on the card itself to suggest he died nor is there an entry in SDGW or the effects records under those numbers that I can find - as we have seen on this site many times a man not coming home from the war did not always means he was dead, a surprisingly large number of men used the time to just disappear and not return to their pre-war life. Craig Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian burns Posted 26 November , 2018 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2018 I take it my only hope of finding him is through pension records or discharge papers does the forum recommend an organisation thatcan help, thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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